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Valentine's Day's origins? The holiday's origins and patron saints are unknown. February has always been known as the month of love, and the modern celebration of St. Valentine's Day incorporates elements including roots of ancient Roman and Christian. Whom is Saint Valentine, and why was he linked to this ancient ritual?
Ancient Roman and Christian
Saints Valentine, Valentine of Rome, and Valentinus of Terni are all recognized by the Catholic Church. The mythical Saint Valentine may have been a priest in third-century Rome, according to one account. In order to encourage more males to join the military, Emperor Claudius II banned marriage for individuals under the age of 30. “Realizing the unfairness of the order, Valentine disobeyed Claudius by continuing to secretly marry young lovers.” (History of Valentine’s Day) The Emperor Claudius I had Valentine executed after learning of his deeds. But other people believe that Saint Valentine, a bishop from Terni, was the one who gave his name to the day we celebrate love and romance. “Outside of Rome, Claudius II also beheaded him.” (History of Valentine’s Day)
According to several accounts, Valentine was executed for trying to free Christians from Roman jails, where they often suffered beatings and torture. After falling in love with a young girl — probably the daughter of his jailor — who visited him while he was incarcerated, an imprisoned Valentine is said to have been the one who delivered the very first "valentine" message himself. According to this version of the narrative. An old urban legend has it that he sent her a letter before his death and signed it "From your Valentine." Legends about Valentine paint him as a kind, valiant, and most of all romantic guy, but the reality behind them is unclear. By the Middle Ages, probably as a direct result of this reputation, Valentine had established himself as one of the most venerated saints in both England and France.
Valentine's Day: February's Pagan Festival
It has been speculated that the Christian church moved St. Valentine's feast day to mid-February to "Christianize" the pagan festival of Lupercalia, while others maintain that the holiday is commemorated on the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial, which likely took place around A.D. 270. Lupercalia was a fertility celebration honoring Faunus, ancient Roman god of agriculture, and Romulus and Remus on February 15. The Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would convene in a holy cave where Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were said to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa to start the celebration (History of Valentine’s Day). For fertility and cleansing, priests sacrificed goats and dogs. They then cut the goat hide into strips, dipped it in the sacrificial blood, and gently slapped women and agricultural fields. Roman ladies embraced the skins because they thought it would make them more fruitful the next year. Legend says that the city's young ladies will put their names in a huge urn later that day. Each bachelor picked a name and a girlfriend for the year. They frequently married.
It has been speculated that Geoffrey Chaucer, an English poet, was responsible for the creation of Valentine's Day.
Geoffrey Chaucer, a poet from medieval England, often fabricated historical circumstances for the characters in his poems. Prior to Chaucer's poem, which was written about 1375, no one knows for sure that Valentine's Day was ever celebrated romantically. In "Parliament of Foules," Shakespeare relates courtly love to St. Valentine's Day, a connection that didn't exist until his poem became popular. According to the poem, single birds (and people) alike congregate on Valentine's Day to meet potential partners. For this was delivered on Saint Valentine's Day, "when every vile cometh ther to pick his spouse," a line attributed to Chaucer that may have inspired the modern celebration.
Multiple opportunities exist throughout the year to honor St. Valentine.
According to my search I found this other good information on the History website “There are so many Saint Valentines in the Roman Catholic calendar that you may choose to honor him or her on different days throughout the year. St. Valentine of Viterbo's feast day is November 3. St. Valentine of Raetia's feast day is January 7, so you may celebrate Valentine's Day early. Women might choose to honor Valentina, the only female St. Valentine. She was a virgin who died in Palestine on July 25, A.D. 308. St. Valentine is honored twice yearly by the Eastern Orthodox Church: first on July 6 to commemorate his role as a church elder, and again on July 30 to commemorate his role as a martyr. (History of Valentine’s Day).”
Who exactly is Cupid?
And how exactly did he come to be known as the unofficial Valentine's Day mascot?
It's common knowledge that when someone mentions Cupid, pictures of a cute little kid with a bow and arrow pop into one's head. However, this wasn't always the case. Before he was renamed by the Romans or associated with Valentine's Day, the Greeks worshiped Eros, the gorgeous god of love, who they called Cupid.
Cupid in the Mythology of Ancient Greece
Hesiod (c. 700 B.C. ), one of the first writers to mention Eros, including him in his "Theogony" as one of the primordial cosmogonic deities hatched from the cosmic egg. Other subsequent sources, however, attribute various parents to Eros, including Nyx and Erebus, Aphrodite and Ares, Iris and Zephyrus, and even Aphrodite and Zeus (who would have been his father and grandfather).
Eros, trained and equipped with both a bow and bow containing either golden arrows to excite passion as well as leaden arrows to arouse repulsion, struck just at heartstrings of gods and humans and manipulated their emotions. Cupid (Eros) threw a golden arrow at Apollo (Apollo), who was hopelessly "in love with the nymph Daphne (Daphne)" (History of Valentine’s Day).” , and then shot a leaden arrow at Daphne (Daphne) so that she would be disgusted by him.
The lovers Cupid and Psyche
Cupid's jealous mother Venus (Aphrodite) instructed her son to have the mortal beauty "Psyche fall in love with a monster in another tale because she was envious of Psyche's beauty." (History of Valentine’s Day).” Instead, Cupid fell in love with Psyche and married her, but only under one condition: her was forbidden from seeing his face. Cupid ran away in annoyance when Psyche eventually gave in to her innate want to know more and allowed herself to be distracted by her curiosity. Psyche was bestowed her gift of immortality by Cupid when they were finally able to find one other again after their long quest for one another throughout the known globe.
Eros was portrayed with in poems of the Archaic era as a handsome immortal who was seductive to both humans and gods. This image of Eros was prevalent throughout the time. However, by the time the Hellenistic era rolled around, he was represented more and more as a naughty and playful youngster. It is believed that the Victorians of the 19th century, who are attributed for developing and promoting Valentine's Day and providing the event its romantic spin, were the first to represent a cherubic form of Cupid on Valentine's Day cards. This is a tradition that has continued right up to the present day.
Sources:
“History of Valentine’s Day .” History, 22 Dec. 2009, www.history.com/topics/valentines-day/history-of-valentines-day-2.
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